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Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” ~Warren Buffett

Becoming A Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

By C. Clark & ChatGPT(AI)

Note: Let me first say, please excuse my grammar. I do a lot of journal writing and I don’t worry about punctuation and such. I will work on my grammar as I go along but for now I didn’t want that to deter me from starting. Yes, there is Grammarly but I want to write in my voice/tone.

Introduction

A Certified Financial Planner looks to be a good second career for people over fifty. This is according to an article on AARP’s Career Change web page. This piqued my interest enough to start looking into that while I let Geophysics sink in even more.

My question now is, “Should my career change be to become a Geophysicist or a Certified Financial Planner?”

CAREER CHANGE

Certified Financial Planner

I have never felt so all over the place in my life (and the over 300K African American Women who have lost their jobs within the last couple of months, aren’t helping), so it was nice to see this answer to an AARP Career Change question.

Question: The first step to overcoming a career impasse is to acknowledge your inner critic

Answer: Yes, being easier on ourselves can make it easier to figure out what we want to do next.

_____________________

After reading the AARP, I have decided to look into becoming a Certified Financial Planner. I have been using ChatGPT and Gemini (Google AI) as a starting point. Below is the first phase that Gemini suggests:

Gemini: Here’s how I would approach becoming a Certified Financial Planner with your unique background:

Phase 1: Foundational Knowledge & Certification (Leveraging Your Strengths)

Obtain the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Certification: This is generally considered the “gold standard” for personal financial advisors in the US. Your math background will give you a significant advantage in grasping the quantitative aspects.
- Education Requirement: While you have two Mathematics degrees, the CFP Board requires specific coursework in financial planning. You’ll need to complete a CFP Board-approved education program. Many universities and private institutions offer these programs online or in person. Given your background, you might find some of the material familiar, allowing you to move through it efficiently.
- Exam: After completing the coursework, you’ll sit for the comprehensive CFP® exam. Your analytical skills from software engineering and math will be a huge asset here.
- Experience Requirement: You’ll need 6,000 hours of experience related to financial planning (or 4,000 hours of apprenticeship experience). This can be gained before or after passing the exam. This is where your existing work experience might be partially counted if you can demonstrate how it relates to financial planning competencies, or you’ll seek roles that provide this experience.
- Ethics: You’ll need to pass an ethics review and agree to adhere to the CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct.
Consider Relevant Securities Licenses (If you plan to sell specific products):

Series 65 (Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination): This license allows you to act as an Investment Adviser Representative (IAR) and provide financial advice for a fee. This is crucial if you want to operate as a fiduciary (acting in your clients’ best interest, which is a hallmark of personal financial planning). Your CFP® certification might exempt you from the Series 65 in some states, but it’s good to be aware of it.
Series 7 (General Securities Representative Exam) and SIE (Securities Industry Essentials Exam): If you plan to sell specific investment products like stocks, bonds, options, or mutual funds and earn commissions, you’ll likely need these licenses. The SIE is a co-requisite to the Series 7.
Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination): Often taken in conjunction with Series 6 or 7, this covers state securities laws.
Strategy: Focus on the CFP® and Series 65 first, as they align well with a fee-based personal financial advisor model. If you decide to go the commission-based route or a hybrid later, you can pursue the others.

CFP Courses

I believe this is a good starting point to get my Financial Planner certificate and then a Securities License(s). Looking online, I see that there are a lot of places to take courses and get a certification. Since I already have a LinkedIn account, I feel more comfortable taking courses on LinkedIn Learning. I will take a couple of courses and see how I like it.

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